Saturday, February 24, 2007

The New Math - a longer term view

Way back in August, Blogshares introduced "the new math," which promised to revolutionize game play by allowing idea prices to fluctuate. Before the new math, it was nothing but a constantly increasing ideas market, and the best strategy was to buy and hold the rarest ideas available.

When management turned on the new math, they decided to limit one of the factors, known as D1, because it had a bit too much power. D1 is the ratio of idea market value to total player wealth, and it sat at 0.9790. A week later (shortly after this post), it had fallen to 0.6125, and many players were convinced that the sky was falling.

Fortunately, the market correction ended and values started to climb again. In fact, player wealth tends to lead the idea market now, showing that it is certainly possible to make money in a down market. In the months since implementing the new math, the game has gone through several cycles, as management has eased the throttle on D1's impact. The chart below shows what an interesting ride it's been.

Despite the initial nervousness, players seem to have adapted well to the new math. The chart below shows that the cycles in D1 effectivity, while seemingly painful while going on, are actually becoming less of a challenge. In fact, the cycle just completed on 05 Feb saw an increase in player wealth.

Blogshares always seems to be looking for a way to keep the game interesting, and to keep players coming back for more. Its challenge is in the depth and breadth of the game, as you can see from this one tiny sliver of the game.

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About Me

Former Navy surface warfare officer & Battleship Sailor. Current Delanco New Jersey School Board member. Working in advanced concepts studies and analysis group for a large South Jersey defense contractor.